It’s Ant and duct! Presenter McPartlin reveals his painfully swollen eye and jokes he ‘needs to cry more’ after being sidelined on his day off with a blocked tear duct

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Ant McPartlin made a playful comment about needing to cry more after a blocked tear duct caused significant swelling around his eye.

The presenter explained he couldn’t participate due to an eye irritation, which caused watery eyes, sticky discharge, and crusty eyelids. This happened while he was recording his ‘Hanging Out’ podcast with Declan Donnelly on Thursday.

Ant McPartlin, age 50, sent a photo of his injured eye to his colleague Donnelly and the show’s team, joking that it looked as if he’d been punched in the face.

He joked that his swollen, bruised appearance reminded him of Rocky after a fight. He said it looked like makeup effects, but it was actually caused by a blocked tear duct, and he apparently needs to cry more to fix it.

The presenter shared a selfie of his swollen eye, taken while waiting to pick up antibiotics at the pharmacy. He explained, ‘You can see how bad my eye is, and my expression shows I’m not feeling great – it’s really ruined my day off.’

The pharmacist asked me for a selfie when I went to pick up my prescription! I happily agreed, so somewhere out there, a pharmacist has a picture of me looking… well, like I did at the time.

One of the guests still had a swollen eye when they appeared on Friday’s episode of The Graham Norton Show. Because the show is filmed in front of a live audience, there was a quick scramble to conceal the injury before they went on stage.

He remembered it took days for the swelling to go down. He’d seen the injury since then, and it had actually gotten larger, but they were filming an appearance on the Graham Norton Show and had to cover it with a lot of makeup.

He described a significant blockage, saying it felt like something was completely obstructing the passage, but thankfully, it’s starting to improve.

Claire Foy, the actress, along with Joe Keery from Stranger Things and rapper Tinie Tempah, were guests on the BBC show Friday.

Ant McPartlin shared that he and Declan Donnelly spent a year filming King Charles for a television show. As part of that, they were invited to stay overnight at his Dumfries House home in Ayrshire before their last interview with him when he was still Prince of Wales.

I was absolutely thrilled when he told me about it! He said the moment they told him, it was an instant ‘yes!’ – everything he’d dreamed of and more. He was so excited he immediately grabbed the robe in his room and ran down the hallway, hoping to find Dec. And there, unbelievably, was the Prince!

‘He said “hello” and started talking to me about pruning roses. I was so embarrassed.”

Donnelly explained that they had some wine in their room and things got a little loud. They admitted they went too far and were asked to keep the noise down.

I’m so excited about Ant & Dec’s new podcast, ‘Hanging Out with Ant & Dec’! Dec explained that because they know each other so well and genuinely make each other laugh, they’re hoping listeners will enjoy it too. Honestly, knowing those two, I’m sure it’s going to be brilliant – their chemistry is always fantastic!

‘Our wives are more nervous than us – they think we might give too much away.’

The podcast is available on Belta Box, their new online entertainment channel. Belta Box also offers fresh digital content and memorable clips from classic Ant and Dec shows.

As a longtime fan, what I love most about this series is how real it feels. It’s completely natural – there’s no script, no forced narrative, and no one interrupting them. It’s just a chance to watch these two friends, who’ve known each other for decades, genuinely catch up and talk about their lives and careers. It feels like you’re right there with them, listening in on a comfortable, heartfelt conversation.

You can find Belta Box on popular social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

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2026-01-29 17:19